The One With the Duck
by bbforever
Summary: Ross & Rachel are newlyweds and parents, and Monica & Chandler are happily married. Who's next? This is the story of the courtship of Joey and Phoebe. Who get plenty of help from our favorite friends.
1. The One With the Duck

Setup: This was originally supposed to be a part of The One With the Planetarium. So there is some background information you need to know. Firstly, Ross and Rachel are still married, but this time the baby's name will be Emma. Monica is not pregnant. Joey and Phoebe have been dating. So that is what remains the same (or has been changed) in this coming series.

* * *

Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe were sitting in their usual spots at Central Perk when Ross and Rachel enter holding their new baby, Emma. Ross asked Chandler and Monica if they could baby-sit Emma for the night while he and Rachel celebrated their one month anniversary. There wasn't anyone in the world that Ross trusted more than his baby-loving sister and his best friend.

"Oh sorry, we can't," said Monica. "Chandler has a business dinner tonight."

Ross was disappointed and was about to harass them further when Joey mentioned, "Well, I have no life. I can baby-sit."

"Oh, and I can come help after I'm finished with my massage clients," Phoebe chimed.

Joey added, "Oh, and I have the perfect gift for Emma when you bring her over. He was getting excited about the idea of baby-sitting with Phoebe.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"You'll just have to wait till you pick her up," Joey said coyly. "It's a surprise."

Ross was skeptical about letting the twosome baby-sit, but with his parents out of town and Chandler and Monica unavailable, he was getting desperate. "Well, thanks guys," Ross told them, "You are a life savor."

Ross and Rachel dropped Emma off at Joey's apartment, but he still wouldn't let them see the gift that he got for Emma. "I promise, it's nothing dangerous," Joey said as he tried to comfort them. Rachel had a hard time letting Emma go to begin with, but Joey's words did nothing to reassure her. Reluctantly, they went on their way to a quiet restaurant for dinner.

"This is nice," Rachel mused as she looked around. They were at a table for two with beautiful candelabras lighting their table. "We never get a nice quiet dinner by ourselves anymore."

"Yeah, it is a nice change," Ross agreed.

"Do you think it's too soon to call Joey and see if Emma's alright?" Rachel asked.

"Rach, they've only been alone together for half an hour," Ross said reassuringly.

"I know, but I mean, it is Joey," Rachel reasoned.

Without a second further of thought, Ross pointedly said, "Good point. I'll go call right now." He stood up and then immediately sat back down. "No, wait, we trust Joey. Carol went through this same thing the first time she left Ben with me. What could possibly happen?"

"Well, Joey could leave our baby on a bus," Rachel reminded Ross of when Chandler and Joey had left baby Ben on the bus when they were picking up women.

"Another good point," Ross agreed. "Joey doesn't deserve our trust. In fact, let's forget about dinner and get Emma now." Without any further thought, the couple stood up and left the restaurant.

* * *

Meanwhile, Joey was sitting in his apartment playing with Emma. He handed her his gift -- a stuffed lobster. "Here you go Emma," he said, "Now I'm going to tell you all about your parents so that by the time Aunt Phoebe gets here you'll be fast asleep. Now first your dad liked your mom but she didn't know. Then your dad went out with a girl named Julie when your mom liked your dad but he didn't know. When your dad found out he made a list and your mom got mad and wouldn't forgive him. Aunt Phoebe told your dad not to worry because she was his lobster-- thus the gift. Then your mom saw this prom video where your dad was going to save the day." As time past he got to the part where Ross and Rachel broke up, "Then they got in a fight because your dad said they were on a break…" Hours later, Joey finally concluded, "Then your mom found out she was pregnant with you."

Phoebe walked in just as he finished Ross and Rachel's long history. She looked in the crib and saw baby Emma sleeping with her stuffed lobster. "Aww, you got Emma a stuffed lobster," Phoebe cooed.

"Yeah, I was just telling Emma her parents' whole history and the meaning behind the lobster," Joey explained.

"That's so sweet. It explains why she's sleeping, but it's sweet." Phoebe said smiling.

Joey looked at Phoebe thoughtfully. As he gazed into her eyes, he told her tenderly, "Actually, I had planned on giving it to you originally. But I don't want our relationship to be like Ross and Rachel's, so I have something else for you instead."

"Really? What is it?" Phoebe asked excitedly.

"Okay, close your eyes." Joey told her. As she did what she was told, Joey reached down and picked up the duck and handed it to her.

"You're giving me the duck?" Phoebe asked confused.

"You're my duck," Joey told her.

Phoebe looked back at Joey blankly. "And you're my chick?" As she thought she added, "Wait a minute. I thought Chandler was your duck."

Remembering his conversation with the super, Mr. Treager, Joey reiterated, "What I said was that Chandler's nickname was duck."

Phoebe understood what he was saying, but still didn't understand the purpose of the duck. "So, why am I your duck?"

"Because Rachel is Ross' lobster, and you're my duck," Joey explained.

"I still don't get it," Phoebe told Joey.

Frustrated, Joey tried to explain further. "The Discovery Channel. After some documentary on jellyfish; I saw one on ducks. Did you know that ducks also mate for life?"

Phoebe finally felt she knew what Joey was saying, but couldn't believe that these kinds of words were coming out of his mouth. It was Joey of all people. "Are you saying that you want me to be your mate for life?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know, but I certainly want to try," Joey told her.

"Does that mean we're going stead?" Phoebe asked excitedly.

"What are we, in high school?" Joey asked.

Somewhat disappointed with his response, Phoebe told him, "No, but I never went to high school. I never got to go steady with anyone."

That made sense to him. "Well, I guess we're going steady then!" Joey said happily and leaned into Phoebe for a lingering kiss.

Moments later, Ross and Rachel walked in to pick up Emma and caught Joey and Phoebe making out on the couch.

"So this is how you watch over our little girl?" Ross asked angrily.

Joey and Phoebe leapt off the couch, surprised by Ross and Rachel's presence. "What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be eating dinner?" Joey asked.

"Shouldn't you two be watching our baby?" Rachel asked accusingly.

"Relax, she's in the bedroom sleeping," Joey told the concerned parents.

Phoebe was too giddy to pay attention to the petty squabble around her. "I'm Joey's duck!" she said happily breaking the tension.

Ross stepped back, confused by her remark. "You're his what?" he asked.

"Duck. Jeez Ross, if you can have a lobster, I can have a duck." Joey told Ross.

Ross still didn't understand how they arrived at this conversation. "Umm, okay, good for you Phoebe," Ross told her.

"Ducks are better than lobsters anyway. At least we don't sit on the bottom of tank to get eaten," Phoebe rationalized.

The conversation had just gone from weird to weirder. Rachel whispered to Ross quietly, "I think we should just grab Emma and run."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Ross agreed. They turned to see Phoebe and Joey were back on the couch making out, so they crept toward the crib to rescue Emma.


	2. The One Where the Baby Hates Chandler

A/N: The last chapter I said that this series takes place immediately after "The One With the Planetarium" series, but then I realized I renamed the series "The One You've Been Waiting For." Sorry for any confusion on that part. You don't really need to read it for this to make sense (especially since I did make some obvious changes), but they do compliment each other. The other series came after The One in Massapequa, so as far as time line references, all details after that point are totally made up by me.

* * *

It was a typical Sunday morning. Monica was in the kitchen making breakfast and Chandler sipped on his morning coffee reading the paper. Rachel then entered the apartment (without knocking as usual) holding baby Emma and Ross followed in tow. Monica was too excited to see her new niece to be upset by the fact Ross and Rachel had barged into her home once again.

"There's my niece!" Monica exclaimed. "Can I hold her?"

"Of course you can," Rachel answered.

"She's so beautiful," Monica said as she bounced Emma up and down in her arms. She was overwhelmed with maternal emotions. She looked up at Chandler I told him, "I want one."

Chandler, who was normally afraid of babies, looked down at Emma. She was so peaceful. "You know," he said, "This isn't so bad. I don't know what I was worried about."

"Here, why don't you hold her for a bit," Monica said handing the baby to Chandler.

Suddenly, Chandler panic. It was one thing when Monica was holding her and he watched from a distance. It was something completely different to actually have on-hands contact with "the creature." He stepped back unsure of himself, and Monica took notice.

"So when we have a baby you're going to stand around and look at it?" Monica asked.

"I was hoping…" Chandler said sheepishly.

"Oh, come on. Just hold her. She won't bite," Monica said as she put Emma into Chandler's arms.

"Then why is she gnawing on my arm?" Chandler retorted as he pulled her away from his arm. Upset by the suddenness of his actions Emma began to cry and Chandler began to panic further. "Take her, take her, take her!" Chandler cried handing Emma back to Rachel in hysterics. "We can never have children!" he exclaimed as he turned to Monica.

"What are you talking about?" Monica asked trying to calm Chandler's fears.

"No, he's right. She was like that even in the womb. What is wrong with you Chandler?!" Rachel responded.

Monica got defensive. "What? Nothing is wrong with him! Chandler, the baby does not hate you."

Still very overprotective of her child, Rachel ran baby-sitting scenarios to Ross. "We can never leave her alone again! I mean with Joey and Phoebe constantly making out, the baby hating Chandler, and Monica living with Chandler, we'll have no one to baby sit for us."

Like Monica, Ross was not convinced that his baby hated his best friend. Furthermore, there was no way that he was going to let Rachel eliminate all their baby-sitting options. "Sure we can," Ross told Rachel, "Emma does not hate Chandler. See?" Ross gently took a calmed down Emma out of Rachel's arms and handed him to Chandler. The moment he was in Chandler's arms Emma started crying again. "These are tears of joy," Ross rationalized.

"See! And she's related to you, which means our baby will hate me too!" Chandler rationalized to Monica.

"Oh, will you stop?!" Monica told Chandler. "Rachel, you and Ross go out tonight and have fun. Chandler and I will watch Emma, and she WILL be happy or my name isn't Monica Geller…eh, Bing!" Monica declared as she took Emma out of Chandler's arms to help stop her from crying.

"Thanks Mon," Ross told his younger sister, "I'm sure Emma will be fine."

Rachel however was less sure. "I…I'm not sure about this…" Rachel said as Ross dragged her out the door without Emma until they were both gone.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about this either," Chandler said as he tried to sneak out behind Ross and Rachel.

"Get back here!" Monica yelled and Chandler begrudgingly came back.

* * *

Ross was taking Rachel to the same restaurant they had tried attending previously. Since they didn't manage to actually consume their meal, he figured it was worth another try.

"Would you stop worrying?" Ross asked as they entered the restaurant. "I'm sure they'll be fine. Remember, Monica never loses."

"Really," Rachel said snootily, "so that means you'll give her that Geller troll cup thingie?"

"What? No!" Ross said abruptly.

"Well you should. It really creeps me out." Rachel complained.

As the host escorted the couple to their seats, Rachel asked Ross, "Do you remember the last time we were here?"

Ross chuckled. "Yeah," he said, "You were so freaked out about leaving Emma for the first time."

"With good reasoning!" Rachel said compellingly. "She was with Joey!"

"And Phoebe," Ross added.

"I think that just made it worse," Rachel said laughing lightly. Then she became solemn. "This may be the last time we ever do this; just the two of us," she told Ross.

Ross looked at Rachel concerned. "Rach, you okay? You look tense."

Rachel was in tears. "How do you expect me to look when we've left our baby with a man that she hates?"

A stranger sitting at the table next to them overheard their conversation and interrupted. "You left your kid with a man she hates?" he asked Ross. "What kind of parent are you?"

"Thank you!" Rachel said glad that someone agreed that she wasn't just crazy.

"Rachel!" Ross said surprised at her. Then he turned to the stranger behind him. "I'll have you know, I also have a son, and he happens to be very happy." Just then Ross paused and contemplated the words he had just said. "Ben, that's it!" Ross said to himself. He started to get up and clasped Rachel's hand. "Come on Rach!" he said leaving the table with Rachel in tow.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked confused.

"To get Ben," Ross replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Monica and Chandler's apartment, Monica was playing with Emma as Chandler stood a few yards away looking on awkwardly.

"You know, you can get a little closer," Monica told Chandler.

"Shouldn't we call in for reinforcements?" Chandler asked.

"Reinforcements? Chandler, she's just a baby," Monica sighed exasperatedly.

Still bitter from his experience with Emma earlier, he Chandler retorted, "Yeah, well I'd like to see how you feel when she bites YOUR arm." Chandler was still too scarred by the experience to come any closer to Monica at that moment. "Can't we get Joey and Phoebe to help?" Chandler asked.

"They're visiting Joey's parents," Monica explained. "Besides, after what happened lat time, I don't think Ross and Rachel want them watching Emma anymore."

"Sure, they can leave her with someone she hates, but they can't leave her with the make out twins," Chandler said to himself sarcastically.

"Will you please help me?" Monica asked exhausted. "It's hard work."

"Okay, but if she cries, then...then...she cries!" Chandler said as he tried to make an excuse. He made a few steps towards Emma and sure enough she started crying again.

"Okay, go, go, go!" Monica commanded after seeing Emma's response. Chandler quickly ran back to where he was and started cowering. "Oh my god, the baby hates you!" Monica whined.

After a few hours drive, Joey and Phoebe arrived at Joey's parents' house. Joey knocked at the door as Phoebe stood below the steps behind him. The Tribbianis greeted Joey happily.

"Joey! You never come home anymore," Gloria Tribbiani complained.

"Love you too Ma," Joey said sarcastically.

It was then Gloria noticed Phoebe standing behind Joey. "Oh, and look," she said, "You brought home a girl. You never bring home girls."

"That's what you think," Joey's sister Veronica said snidely.

Gloria was taken aback by Veronica's remark. "You brought home girls when you lived here and your father and I didn't know?" Gloria questioned Joey.

"And when he moved out," Veronica added.

"Even your father doesn't do that," Gloria said.

"I didn't bring home any girls," Joey told them. "Veronica don't know what she was seeing," he said mockingly at her.

"Well, this one must be serious..." Joey Sr. said trying to calm Gloria down. It didn't matter what happened before; it was all in the past. "Wait a minute, I've seen this one before; she's the friend," he said recognizing Phoebe.

"Yes, dad," Joey confirmed. "Ma, you remember Phoebe."

"Yes, of course. It's nice seeing you again Phoebe," Gloria said shaking Phoebe's hand. Then she turned to Joey, "When are you gonna settle down? I wanna see you with a nice girl and I wanna have grandchildren. Is that too much to ask?"

"Phoebe and I are going out," Joey told them.

Gloria broke into a huge smile. "You and my Joey!" she exclaimed. "Welcome to the family!" Gloria grabbed Phoebe and hugged her tightly.

"No Ma, we're not engaged," Joey corrected Gloria.

"Well, what are you waiting for? It's not every day you meet such a beautiful girl," Gloria lectured Joey.

"Actually..." Joey started.

"Joey!" Phoebe said shocked. She couldn't believe that Joey had the audacity to say that he meets beautiful women every day. She knew that beautiful women consistently threw themselves at Joey, but it wasn't something she wanted to hear; certainly she didn't want to hear it confirmed by her boyfriend.

Joey was quick to comfort Phoebe. "Actually, what I was going to say was I wanted to ask you if you wanted to marry me tonight. That's why I invited you to have dinner with my parents."

Gloria looked thoughtfully at Phoebe. "Well, what do you say? You wanna be a Tribbiani?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Phoebe said joyfully. "Oh, yay! I have a family! I always wanted one of those!" she said as she embraced those she hoped to soon one day call her in-laws.

* * *

Back at Monica and Chandler's apartment, Monica changed Emma's diaper while Chandler continued to stand at a distance.

"Chandler, can you throw away this diaper for me?" Monica asked. She then realized that retrieving the diaper would mean he would have to come closer and Emma would start crying again. Exasperated, Monica sighed, "How is this ever going to work if you can't come near our children?"

"Wait, wait, wait, I have an idea," Chandler said going to Joey's place. He came back holding a toy claw (from their bachelor days). "See, I can help without ever getting near!" Chandler squeezed the handle of the toy for the claw to clasp the diaper; however, the diaper was too heavy plummeted to the floor.

"And then you can clean every mess; starting with this one," Monica said annoyed.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we are never having children!" Chandler exclaimed.

Just then Ross and Rachel came rushing in with Ben

"You're back already?" Chandler said with anticipation, and then closed off with a sarcastic remark. "Come to see your daughter burst into laughter as you take her away from here?"

Monica noticed Ben was with them and greeted her nephew. "Hey Ben, what are you doing here?"

"I brought him over," Ross explained. He turned to Ben, "Now Ben, you like your Uncle Chandler, don't you?"

"Yeah, he's funny," Ben chuckled.

"See, Ben doesn't hate you," Ross told Chandler.

"You know that's right," Chandler said contemplating the situation.

"He didn't hate you when he was a baby either," Ross added.

"Huh, you know, maybe babies don't hate you after all Chandler," Rachel admitted without fully acknowledging that she had been irrational earlier.

"That's right. He didn't hate me," Chandler said reflecting on the past. "In fact, Mon, didn't Ben hate you when he was a baby?"

"What?" Monica asked surprised by Chandler's question.

"Didn't Ben used to always cry when he was around you?" Chandler said rubbing it in.

"Oh my god, yes, he did!" Monica said in a panic. "Oh my god, my baby is going to hate me!"

Chandler lost his fear of having children. He figured it was kind of like Thanksgiving. Parenthood was meant to be a miserable experience. "No it won't," Chandler said comforting Monica. "It will hate us both. Just the way God intended it. All is right with the world once again."


	3. The One With the Wedding Announcements

Acknowledgements: I'd like to thank Aaron for his stupidity, which was the inspiration for part of this storyline. Just kidding, Aaron, you're not stupid, but your actions still inspired me.

* * *

Ross, Rachel, Monica, and Chandler were sitting at their favorite couch at Central Perk. Monica was sifting through their mail and came upon a fancy envelope. She opened it up and began to read it to herself. "He Rach, do you remember Edith Cranford?" Monica enquired.

Rachel couldn't place the name. It sounded familiar from high school, but other than that she was drawing a blank. "Um, was she the one at the bottom of the pyramid?" she asked.

"No, the valedictorian," Monica corrected.

"Oh, you know, I don't remember her," Rachel said. Rachel was one of the most popular girls from Lincoln High, her old alma mater. Besides Monica, she didn't have a tendency to remember anyone but the _cool_ kids. Even when she first joined what now made up her closest group of friends, she just barely recognized Monica. However, in all fairness, Monica's looks had changed a lot.

Monica knew she could jog Rachel's memory. "She was Nancy Branson's best friend."

Rachel didn't remember Edith Cranford, but she definitely remembered Nancy Branson. Her high school boyfriend, Chip Matthews had dumped her senior year of high school for Nancy. "Oh her," Rachel fibbed slightly, "oh, they were both sluts."

"I'm not surprised you think that," Monica said frankly, "She's marrying Chip Matthews."

"What?!" Rachel asked shocked.

"What, your high school boyfriend Chip?" Ross asked slightly jealous of Rachel's reaction.

"Why do you care Rach? You're already married" Chandler tried to rationalize.

"Still, I don't want Chip to get married. Especially not to Nancy Branson," said Rachel.

"Edith Cranford," Monica corrected.

"Whoever!" Rachel yelled getting frustrated.

This time it was Ross to correct her. "Whomever," he suggested.

"What is it with you Gellers and always being right," Rachel said to herself more than anyone else.

Picking up another announcement, Ross said, "Well, if it makes you feel better, here's one from Mona."

"Wow, she certainly got over you fast," Chandler chuckled to himself.

"Thanks man," Ross said sarcastically to Chandler. Then spoke to Rachel again, "Yeah, apparently she's marrying some guy named Matt Landis. And I'm not upset, because I have you." Ross put the announcement down and kissed Rachel on the cheek.

Rachel was not impressed. Mona probably got the better deal. There was no way that Edith was better than her. "Yeah, whatever," Rachel mumbled, "Chip was probably cheating on me with her," said Rachel recalling Chip's many infidelities.

"This is hopeless," Ross sighed.

Monica looked through the pile of mail further and came upon another nicely decorated envelope. "Oh look, and here's one from Gunther."

Ross turned around to the counter. "You're getting married?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gunther said bluntly. He never did like Ross, mostly because of Rachel's attraction to him.

"So who's the lucky girl?" Chandler teased.

"Jill Green," Monica answered for him.

"Jill? My sister Jill?! And I just find out now?!" Rachel asked outraged.

While Rachel continued on with her tantrum (which was mostly directed at Gunther), Monica continued to fiddle through the mail. She opened yet another fancy envelope and her face quickly fell. "Oh my gosh, here's one from Richard," Monica said sadly.

The others were all quick to come to Monica's aid. Besides Chandler, Richard was the only guy that she truly ever loved. Glad the attention was off him, Gunther said to himself, "I just figured if I couldn't have Rachel, I should marry _a_ Green."

"Richard, Richard?" Chandler asked just to be certain they were clear.

"Dr. Burke is getting married again?" Ross asked for further clarity. He couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah," Monica choked out, obviously upset by this new information.

"Wow, it looks like you have me beat," Rachel said jokingly.

Chandler felt a twinge of jealousy whenever Richard was mentioned. Maybe he wasn't as tall, or manly, and he couldn't grow a decent mustache, but he deserved Monica. He knew that, he just hoped she did too. "But Mon, remember you're married to me. We both asked you to marry us, and you chose me," Chandler tried to reason. He knew the question was more for his own peace of mind than to help her, but he had to know.

"What if it was a mistake?" Monica asked.

"Mistake? Honey, we're happy, he's happy, what mistake?" Chandler asked desperately.

"We didn't get married because he didn't have children. Do we have children?!" Monica asked angrily.

Chandler had not expected that kind of reaction. "I, uh…next question," Chandler stammered.

Breaking the tension Joey and Phoebe came running through the door. "Guys guess what?" Joey asked excitedly.

"You better not be getting married, or you'll die!" Rachel said. She had far enough wedding announcements for one day.

Joey and Phoebe just looked at each other.

"Uh, no, um, we just…" Phoebe tried to make an excuse for their excitement.

"Got a free meatball sub!" Joey added quickly.

"It figures you guys would be excited about that," Chandler said falling for their act.

Rachel's outburst and Chandler's snippier than normal sarcasm alerted Phoebe that something was wrong. "What's with all the negative energy?" Phoebe asked. "Everyone's auras look all murky."

"Monica wishes she married Richard instead," Chandler pouted.

"What?!" cried Joey.

"I didn't say that. I was just wondering what would be different," Monica explained.

"We all got announcements about our ex's getting married," Ross explained further.

"Yeah, except for Chandler," Monica said bitterly.

"Yeah, well who's he going to get one from?" Phoebe teased before realizing the silliness of everyone's reactions. "Is that what all this is about? I don't see what the big deal is. I got one from David yesterday."

"The scientist guy?" Joey enquired. "And you didn't tell me."

"And you're not upset about this?" Rachel asked Phoebe.

"No, why should I be?" Phoebe said simply. "I have Joey now." She then kissed Joey on the cheek.

"Aww, thanks Pheebs," Joey swooned.

Ross looked at Rachel. "Now why didn't that work with you?"

"Put a sock in it!" Rachel told Ross, clearly still upset.

* * *

Joey and Phoebe walked through the streets of downtown Manhattan. Phoebe managed to smooth most of the tension over, but something told her it still wasn't a good time to simply "announce" hers and Joey's engagement.

"Well, how are we going to tell them that we're getting married?" Joey asked.

"It's going to have to be something subtle so they don't get upset," Phoebe said thinking aloud.

"Yeah…" Joey trailed off and then it hit him. "Why don't we get you a ring? You can wear it and then when they see it they'll know."

"That's a great idea!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Joey, you're a genius!"

Joey looked at Phoebe thoughtfully. "You know, you're the first girl to ever say that to me?"

"Oh, what do the rest of them know?" Phoebe said commending Joey.

Joey and Phoebe walked into the nearest jewelry store and Phoebe immediately found a ring that she liked. "Joey, what do you think of this one?" she asked.

Joey picked up the ring. "Let me see," he said judging the ring by putting it on.

"Joey don't!" Phoebe said, trying to stop him, but it was too late.

"What?" Joey asked as he tried to take off the ring but couldn't. "Oh, that," Joey said as he realized that the ring was well stuck onto his finger. He went to the cashier and said certainly, "Yeah, we'll take this one."

* * *

After buying the ring, Joey and Phoebe immediately went back to Joey's apartment. There they tried a variety of ways of getting the ring off Joey's finger. "Let's try soap and water," Phoebe suggested, "We'll slide this bad boy right off."

They tried the soap and water, and then Joey tugged at the ring. It continued to refuse to budge.

"Oh, I know! I heard putting your hand in ice and water can work," Phoebe tried again.

Joey readily agreed and they put his hand in a tub of ice. Again Joey tried to take off the ring and again he failed. "Now my hand is just cold," Joey complained.

"Oh, you can try holding your hand above your head. The blood will drain out of your finger and you can slide it off," Phoebe suggested yet again.

Joey did Phoebe's suggestion, and helpless brought his arm back down. Frustrated he said, "Now my hand's asleep. We have to ask Monica."

"No!" Phoebe said panicked. "She'll kill us if this is the way we tell her we're getting married."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Joey asked.

"I guess we'll just have to find some other way to let them know," Phoebe said. "Then when they find out she can help us get the ring off your finger."

"But how?" Joey asked.

Phoebe thought for a while in deep contemplation. Then she shot up. "I have an idea!" she said.

* * *

The next day at Monica and Chandler's apartment, Monica went through the mail at the table. "Announcement, announcement, announcement," Monica muttered to herself. "What ever happened to bills?"

Just then Chandler came in holding a magazine. "You'll never guess what I just saw in a magazine," he told her.

"Another wedding announcement," Monica said sarcastically.

"Well, yeah, but you'll never guess whose," Chandler taunted.

"Who?" Monica asked taking the bait.

"Pete Becker!" Chandler said as he flipped the magazine over to reveal the over. On the magazine cover were Pete and his future bride.

"My old boyfriend Pete? Why are you telling me this?!" Monica asked.

"I just thought it was funny," Chandler said.

Monica was not laughing and stared at him hard. "Well here's announcement from Janice funny guy," Monica said handing him one of the announcements from the many.

"Janice? But I thought she was already married," Chandler said confused.

"She was," Monica said matter of factly. "She's announcing her divorce.

Chandler threw the announcement to the floor freaked out. Just then Ross and Rachel came in holding an announcement.

"Oh no, not another announcement," Monica said.

"Yeah, except we can't place who these people are. Their names sound familiar though," said Ross.

Still flipping through her own pile of announcements, she asked, "Who's it from?"

"Ken Adams and Regina Phalange," Rachel said.

"That's weird. We got an announcement from them too. But I don't remember who they are either."

"Aren't those the names Joey and Phoebe used?" Chandler asked cracking the code.

Chandler, Monica, Rachel, and Ross came bursting through Joey's apartment.

"You guys are getting married?" Monica confronted.

Sensing that everyone was upset, Phoebe whispered to Joey, "Uh oh, maybe it wasn't a good idea…"

Fed up with the gang's attitude towards announcements, Joey spoke up. "What's up with you guys. You should be happy for us!"

"He's right," Ross agreed.

"Thank you," Joey said feeling he finally got through to them.

""I'm sorry," said Rachel, "I guess I was upset because all these people were getting married and I knew I would never have that again." She clasped Ross' hand and smiled at him.

"Me too, I'm sorry you guys," Monica apologized. "We're very happy for you."

Chandler patted Joey on the back. "Congratulations man. You made it."

Rachel perked up, "Oh, do you have a ring yet? Let me see your hand!" Rachel said as and reached for Phoebe's hand.

"There's a little problem with that," Phoebe admitted.

"What?" asked Monica.

"It's stuck!" Joey whined as he held his hand straight up showing off the ring on his finger.

"Dude! What are you doing wearing a girl's ring?" Chandler asked.

"Phoebe asked me to look at it and I put it on and now we can't get it off," Joey explained.

Naturally, Monica knew exactly what to do. "Here, tie this piece of string around your finger and the ring should come off."

"Here goes nothing," Joey said as he attempted to remove the ring yet again. As he tried the ring popped off. "Thanks Mon!" He handed the ring to Phoebe who then put it on and showed it off to everyone.

"Oh Phoebe, it's beautiful," Rachel said trying not to cry. Then she along with everyone else came in to embrace the happy couple.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that's all I have. This is where I hit the major writers block point. I never completed it past this, so if I do more, it's going to have to be up to you guys. I did have a couple of ideas, but nothing fully fleshed out. So I'm open to any ideas. As you may have figured, I try to keep the stories with the same sort of format as the show. I try to have an A & B story (I know the show adds a C, but I never was able to make it that complex). So this is probably the only time I ask; review if you want me to continue, and submit what you'd like to see. I can always use some extra help. 


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